Brother
by wandering-lullaby
Summary: One-shot. "Did you mourn?" "We all did." In which Thor thinks about his childhood, when all was good, before Loki fell from the Bifrost... (Post-Thor. Pre-Avengers.)


**Is anyone excited to see 'Maleficent' when it comes out in May? I know I am. Anyone see the new trailer? Holy shiznets, like, the Lana Del Rey cover of 'Once Upon a Dream' is so freaking chilling and mesmerizing, like, you have to see it. If you haven't seen it, go find 'Maleficent Dream Trailer' on YouTube pronto. **

**Anyway, ENJOY!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Thor. **

* * *

Thor eyes the door in front of him. The door's knob is golden and tempting. It's taunting little whispers are telling the thunder god to open it.

He hesitates.

Thor isn't a Prince of Asgard in this moment. He's not the firstborn son of Odin. He's not the God of Thunder. He's just Thor– he's a brother. Thor opens the door to Loki's chambers, half-expecting to find Loki inside. Expecting a scowl, expecting to see a pair of emerald eyes set in a glare, expecting Loki to yell at him to leave, or perhaps say something snarky.

Thor is expecting anything but silence. Oh, the silence. And the memories, so many memories that crash upon his mind like a tidal wave meeting the shore.

* * *

_Nine-year-old Thor is bored. So bored, that he is quite literally lying in the middle of a corridor. On the floor. The guards pay him no mind. The servants pay him no mind. Anyone that passes pays him no mind._

_The palace staff is used to the older prince's antics. Every once in a while, Thor would let out a loud, exaggerated groan. Thor is so utterly bored that he doesn't care about the raven (one of his father's) that had situated itself on his abdomen. Then, an idea pops into his head._

_"LOKI!" Thor cries, startling the raven on his stomach, causing it to squawk and fly away._

_Thor races to his younger brother's chambers. He doesn't bother to knock and barges right in._

_Seven-year-old Loki is curled up on his bed, ebony hair neatly parted, a maroon-covered book open in front of him. "May I help you?" Loki asks in a sarcastically polite voice._

_"I'm bored!" Thor falls onto his brother's bed, before crawling beside him. "What are you reading, Brother?"_

_"Magic," Loki says simply, though his eyes flash with mischief, "Mother gave it to me,"_

_"Magic?" the blond boy perks up, "show me something, show me something!"_

_The black-haired boy smirks, "what do you want to do at this very moment?"_

_Thor thinks. "I would like to go swimming, actually…" he eyes his younger brother apprehensively, wondering what the boy had planned._

_Loki grins. Thor knows that grin. Loki mutters an incantation from his book, and it happens._

_Out of Loki's closet roars a waterfall. Or a river. A lake. An ocean, maybe. Whatever it was, it floods the room, and sweeps the laughing princes right out of Loki's chambers. They pass by several confused and horrified servants and guards. The water carries the brothers all the way to the Throne Room._

_By then, Thor and Loki are soaking wet and giggling madly. Frigga chuckles, while casting a spell to dry them off. Odin does not look happy._

_Loki takes note of his audience, and promptly springs to his feet. Throwing his arms out dramatically, he exclaims, "ta-da!"_

_Needless to say, the All-Father grounded them. But it was worth it._

* * *

Thor smiles fondly at the magic book on his brother's desk. Age has faded the book's maroon cover to a dull red. He opens the book to the page which contained the spell that flooded the castle.

He swears the book still feels damp.

* * *

_Eleven-year-old Loki creeps down the corridor, silent as a mouse, blending in with the shadows. His limbs still tremble slightly from the nightmare he was subjected to._

_Loki reaches his destination. The young boy mutters a spell that unlocks the door, and he enters Thor's chambers. Thirteen-year-old Thor lays comfortably in his bed, eyes shut, snoring loudly._

_"Thor?" Loki whispers, gently shaking his older brother's shoulder._

_"Wha-fghjtshmm…" Thor mumbles, before his eyes shoot open. "Loki?"_

_The younger prince shuffles awkwardly, and Thor notices the shadows under Loki's eyes._

_"Nightmare?" Thor asks knowingly. Loki nods._

_Thor pulls back his covers, and Loki slides in. The older boy drapes a protective arm around his brother's shoulders. "What happened in the nightmare?"_

_It's a while before Loki responds. But Thor waits and waits. He's just about to fall asleep once more, when he hears his little brother's reply. "... I fell."_

* * *

Thor nearly chokes.

"So, this is what you meant," he whispers to the empty room. "You fell, you fell…"

You fell, Loki.

You fell, Little Brother.

You're gone.

Thor had memorized every inch of his brother's chambers, more so than anything he'd learned in lessons as a boy.

And the ghosts still remain. The ghosts of giggles and laughter and smiles and tears and fear. Thor mourns for his little brother. Loki Odinson. Loki Laufeyson. He mourns.

Thor can still see him. The young boy, raven-haired and emerald-eyed, smirking mischievously. Thin-limbed and knobby-kneed, long-fingered and insanely intelligent. That was Loki. That was his brother.

Thor thinks he can see that boy standing beside him, wondering why he couldn't do his math homework. Cackling at the success of completing a new spell. Revelling in simple things. Loki was someone else, something far different from Asgard. His little brother was special.

And Loki never knew. He never knew. He saw himself as second-best in Odin's eyes. Second-loved. Second-cherished. But he was always first in Thor's eyes. Always.

Loki was the best brother Thor could've asked for— Loki was more than he deserved.

Thor shuts his eyes.

"Goodbye, Brother," he says.

* * *

**I'm about to cry. OML. How did this turn out guys? Please review!**


End file.
